Confliction
by ThePillowOfDoom
Summary: AU, sequel to Atonement. Horace Slughorn had hoped to avoid the war as long as possible, but an unexpected visit may force him to act before it's too late.
1. Confliction Pt 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters or included in this story. Everything other than the new plot belongs to J.K. Rowling. I'm not making any money off this, I'm just having a little fun.

A/N: This is shorter than the previous installment, _Atonement, _because it seemed like a good place to end it. There will be either one or two more parts to this installment before I move on to the next one.

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><p>Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was the premier magical school in Wizarding Britain, and among the best wizarding schools in the world. Since its establishment in the Ninth Century A.D. by the Four Founders, Hogwarts and its staff had been hard at work educating young witches and wizards in the ways of magic.<p>

Hogwarts was also one of the most secure locations in Magical Britain, perhaps even more so than the Goblin-run Wizarding Bank, Gringotts. It was the only place in Britain that was considered truly safe from attacks by Voldemort and his Death Eaters, not only due to the high levels of security provided by the school's ancient wards, but the fact that the current Headmaster of Hogwarts was perhaps the only man alive that the Dark Lord Voldemort truly feared: Albus Dumbledore.

Albus Dumbledore was not the only great wizard present at Hogwarts at this time. Among the staff were the Transfiguration professor, Minerva McGonagall, and the Potions Master, a man who had known and taught Voldemort - or as he'd been known then, Tom Riddle - when he'd been a student. This man was Horace Slughorn.

Slughorn was usually a calm, relaxed person who often spent his leisure either enjoying the finer things in life or meeting with his former students, many of whom had gone far in life, and enjoying the perks associated with having personal friendships with accomplished witches and wizards. These, however, were not usual times.

Fearing for his safety, Slughorn had opted for several years to remain at Hogwarts during the summer holidays in an effort to protect himself from the Death Eaters and keep out of the war. Unbeknownst to Slughorn, however, the war was about to find its way to him.

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><p>Horace Slughorn had fallen into a pattern over the summer. Having very little with which to occupy his time, he would rise from bed early most mornings and head to his office, where he would sip wine and read whichever book had caught his fancy at the time.<p>

On this particular day, he'd chosen _Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires _by Eldred Worple, and had settled into a very comfortable armchair he'd positioned exactly so the light from the sole window would shine directly on his book and allow him to avoid all distractions by simply not seeing any.

Suddenly, Slughorn heard a thud, which caused him to jump from his seat. Waving his wand, he lit all the candles in the tiny office, illuminating the bookshelf and several cabinets around the edges of the room, as well as the desk and second armchair in the center.

The room had an organized messiness about it; all the items seemed to be in their proper places, if barely. Books seemed to have been tossed onto the bookshelf with no rhyme or reason, some properly standing, others piled on their sides, and otherwise squeezed into wherever was convenient. Also on the shelf was a large amount of photographs featuring Slughorn and groups of his former students. The cabinets were half opened, various potion ingredients visible stacked in ways that made sense only to the aging Potions Master, and on the desk stood an old, seemingly distraught house-elf, who had seemingly been the cause of the disruption. Indeed, a box filled with various trinkets that Slughorn usually kept on the edge of his desk lay on the floor, contents spilled out around it, apparently having been knocked over by the elf.

Reflexively, Slughorn spoke to the elf. "Aren't you going to clean that up?"

The elf stared at the Potions Master for several moments, before addressing the wizard in a quiet, raspy voice.

"Kreacher does not work at Magic School. Kreacher has come to give Slug Man message from Master Regulus."

Delighted at the mention of his former student, Slughorn sat back down in the armchair and instantly began talking.

"Wonderful," he said, "wonderful indeed! Did Regulus perhaps want to meet with me? Surely an owl would have been sufficient? Perhaps he might join me for tea?"

Kreacher stared at Slughorn solemnly, before speaking once again.

"Master Regulus cannot meet with Slug Man," Kreacher then paused for a moment, tears forming in the elf's blue eyes," because Master Regulus... is dead."

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><p>AN: Am I evil for leaving this on a cliffhanger? I probably would be if anyone was reading these stories. Like I said last time, I won't force people to review before I update, but I'd really appreciate some reviews. It might motivate to do these more quickly, but I'll hopefully update by Saturday either way. Please review?

_~ThePillowOfDoom_


	2. Confliction Pt 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters or included in this story. Everything other than the new plot belongs to J.K. Rowling. I'm not making any money off this, I'm just having a little fun.

A/N: Yes, I know, this is ridiculously short. No, I don't plan on making a habit out of this. It's just a direct continuation of the first "chapter." These installments, as I like to call them, will be relatively short, and they only exist to set up the premise that makes this a major AU.

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><p>Horace Slughorn was not a man who spent much time dwelling over things that did not reflect positively on him. He'd spent his life surrounding himself with anybody who he felt might become successful later in life, and wasted no time bringing these people up in social settings, all in an effort to portray himself in the best possible light. And he'd always believed that he was, beneath it all, someone who had achieved good, albeit indirectly. But after hearing the house-elf Kreacher's account of Regulus Black's death, Slughorn could feel everything begin to unravel.<p>

Said elf was sitting silently on Slughorn's desk, staring at the portly Potions Master with... curiosity? Loathing? Despite having little actual knowledge about house-elves, he had a feeling the latter was closer to the truth, and Slughorn knew that it was justified, despite the elf having no way of knowing that. For the aging wizard knew that in truth, Regulus' death was his fault, no matter how indirectly.

Reluctantly, Slughorn addressed the elf. "Kreacher?"

"Yes, Slug Man?"

Several things about the response unnerved him. For one, the elf had said it without a hint of emotion, as though recounting the death of his master had drained him. This seemed to be the case, as Kreacher hadn't even appeared to move his lips when speaking, although Slughorn knew that was impossible.

And being a master at Potions, an accomplished duelist, and a respected wizard, he didn't like being referred to as Slug Man.

But the elf's title for him was an afterthought, as he knew that he had to fix his mistake.

"I believe... that someone I know will be able to destroy the horcrux. Do you have it, Kreacher?"

The elf seemed to know where he was going with this. "Kreacher will not give the horcrux to Slug Man. Master Regulus told Kreacher to destroy the horcrux, and so Kreacher must. Master Regulus also told Kreacher only to tell Slug Man about the horcrux, so Slug Man will have to destroy the horcrux without person you know."

Slughorn leaned back in his chair. "But Kreacher, by your account Regulus said only to tell me. He never said I couldn't find someone to help me, did he?"

Kreacher looked straight into Slughorn's eyes for several moments, before breaking the eye contact and jumping off the desk. He spoke in his raspy whisper once more. "Kreacher was not told to stop Slug Man from contacting others. Take Kreacher to your friend."

Sighing, Slughorn rose from the armchair, and led his visitor out of the office.

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><p>After walking in silence for what seemed like an eternity, the pair stood on the seventh floor, in front of the gargoyle which opened the path to the Headmaster's office. Before speaking his one-time password, Slughorn spoke to Kreacher.<p>

"Kreacher, would you stay out here for a few minutes? I need to speak with him privately first."

The elf did not look happy at the request, but nodded and went to stand by a window.

Taking a deep breath, Slughorn tried to compose himself. Then he turned toward the gargoyle.

"Flapjacks," he said, despite not knowing what one was.

Reacting to the word, the gargoyle moved aside, and Slughorn walked through the now open door with a feeling of dread.

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><p>AN: Okay, I know there's no good reason for this to be its own chapter, but rejoice, the next installment will be the last one before I get to the pre-Harry fic, which will be an actual fic instead of a few one/two-shots that set up the next one. Please review, I'd like having an audience.

_~ThePillowOfDoom_


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